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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26623450">Ghost in the Garden</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepdeepspace/pseuds/deepdeepspace'>deepdeepspace</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambiguous Relationship, Angst, Canon Compliant, M/M, No Dialogue, No Spoilers, could be friends could be something else, this is actually beta read because i have a friend willing to beta read my weird angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:48:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26623450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepdeepspace/pseuds/deepdeepspace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I reach out to him, but he doesn’t take my hand.”</p><p>Shuichi and Kokichi sit in the garden together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ghost in the Garden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kokichi was talking but Shuichi was not listening. His lips moved and his vocal chords vibrated and it would seem to anyone watching that he was responding, but he was not. Shuichi was on autopilot as he watched Kokichi. Kokichi. He looked like a ghost like this, under the moonlight. The pale moonlight reflected off his pale skin, a barely-there halo of light around his form. His tiny, tiny form. </p><p>It was sometimes frightening, how tiny Kokichi really was when he let you actually see him. When he shed the part of his facade that made him seem larger than life and brimming with power. Here, in the grass, under the moonlight, he was short and skinny and his voice didn’t echo off the walls of the back garden. The facade wasn’t gone, of course. It was just a different one than normal. </p><p>Shuichi opened his mouth and responded again, not conscious of his words. Kokichi laughed. It was a real laugh, not maniacal or teasing. Shuichi wondered what he said. He wondered about a lot of things, on these evenings with Kokichi. </p><p>Kokichi was a kid. They all were, but it was easy to forget with anyone but Kokichi. Kirumi had an air of maturity, Korekiyo had knowledge beyond his years, Maki held a weight on her shoulders too heavy for a teenager. Kokichi was childish in everything he did, chasing entertainment and teasing others and giggling. </p><p>But he was a strange child. His constant search for amusement felt, to Shuichi, like something deeper than not wanting to be bored. To Shuichi, it seemed like Kokichi was scared of being bored. He had no real evidence for this theory, but he could not let it go. </p><p>Kokichi wanted people to hate him. That was clear to Shuichi, that claim had a plethora of evidence to back it up. Shuichi could only guess at why, though. </p><p>The purple ends of his hair were fading, revealing bleached and damaged strands beneath the color. Shuichi absently wondered if there was hair dye in the warehouse.</p><p>As the days went by, it felt like everything about Kokichi was fading. His eyes were duller now, and his smiles showed more teeth and never, ever reached his eyes. Shuichi doubted anyone else noticed. They didn’t look at Kokichi for what he was, a child stuck in here with them. They didn’t see the emptiness of his eyes, they didn’t see the smooth skin around them when he smiled. Wrinkles in the corners of someone’s eyes indicate a genuine smile, the detective part of Shuichi said. </p><p>When they looked at Kokichi, they saw a monster. Shuichi didn’t. The ghost in the garden wasn’t a monster.</p><p>Kokichi was looking at him. The garden was silent, now. Shuichi wondered what Kokichi saw when he looked at him. </p><p>Kokichi broke the silence, mocking Shuichi. It was a lie, of course. He wasn’t upset at Shuichi. He never really was. </p><p>His hand didn’t shake when he extended it to help up his ghost. Kokichi didn’t take it, of course. No matter how many times Shuichi reached out to him, he never took his hand. He still reached out, in spite of that.</p><p>They walked back to the dorms together, like they always did. It was late enough that nobody else was around. Kokichi said a dramatic goodbye, and turned around, away from him. A small voice in Shuichi’s head irrationally insisted that if he let Kokichi go, he would be a ghost forever. Shuichi grabbed his wrist. His small, bony wrist. </p><p>For a moment, a very brief moment, he saw royal purple eyes light up. He saw a smile that crinkled the skin at the corners of those eyes. The ghost before him coming back to life. But it was gone in a flash, like Kokichi didn’t want it there in the first place. Like Kokichi didn’t want to be brought back to life. His tiny wrist yanked itself out of Shuichi’s hand the same moment he let go. </p><p>Shuichi said goodnight with a small smile. It didn’t reach his eyes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this was written in one day as a way to vent. i posted it while betting on the monomono slot with my other hand. hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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